Philip Glass Ensemble

The Philip Glass Ensemble is a musical group founded by composer Philip Glass in 1968 to serve as a performance outlet for his experimental minimalist music. The Ensemble's instrumentation became a hallmark of Glass' early minimalist style. After Glass wrote his first opera, Einstein on the Beach, for the Ensemble in 1976, he began to compose for other instrumentation more frequently.

While the Ensemble's exact instrumentation has varied over the years, it has generally consisted of amplified woodwinds, keyboard synthesizers, and solo soprano voice (singing solfege). The Philip Glass Ensemble continues to perform and record, under the musical direction of keyboardist Michael Riesman.

In 2011, the group performed a series of concerts in an installation at the Museum of Modern Art.

Members

• Michael Riesman, keyboards
• Philip Glass, keyboards
• Jon Gibson, woodwinds
• Dan Dryden, audio engineer
• Lisa Bielawa, voice
• Andrew Sterman, woodwinds
• Mick Rossi, percussion, keyboards
• Frank Cassara, percussion
• Stephen Erb, audio engineer
• David Crowell, woodwinds

• Martin Goldray, keyboards (retired)
• Eleanor Sandresky, keyboards (retired)
• Richard Peck, woodwinds (retired)
• Jack Kripl, woodwinds (retired)
• Richard Landry, woodwinds (retired)
• Joan La Barbara, voice (retired)
• Dora Ohrenstein, voice (retired)
• Kurt Munkacsi, audio engineer (now producer)

Films

• 2009 - Pruit Igoe and prophecies. From Watchmen
• 2008 - Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts. Directed by Scott Hicks.
• 1988 - Powaqqatsi. Directed by Godfrey Reggio.
• 1983 - Philip Glass. From Four American Composers. Directed by Peter Greenaway.
• 1982 - Koyaanisqatsi. Directed by Godfrey Reggio.

Games

• 2008 - Pruit Igoe and prophecies. Grand Theft Auto 4